Current through August 30, 2024
In the personal use taking of bottomfish
(1) bottomfish may be taken at any time,
except lingcod may not be taken from December 1 through May 15;
(2) except sablefish, bottomfish may be taken
for personal use only by longline or hand held line; for all bottomfish,
unattended gear must be marked as described in
5
AAC 77.010(d);
(3) there are no daily bag or possession
limits, except that
(A) in the Sitka
vicinity:
(i) in Sitka Sound Special Use
Area, which is that area of Sitka Sound enclosed on the north by lines from
Kruzof Island at 57º 20.50' N. lat., 135º 45.17' W. long. to
Chichagof Island at 57º 22.05' N. lat., 135º 43' W. long., and from
Chichagof Island at 57º 22.58' N. lat., 135º 41.30' W. long. to
Baranof Island at 57º 22.28' N. lat., 135º 40.95' W. long., and on
the south and west by a line running from the southernmost tip of Sitka Point
at 56º 59.38' N. lat., 135º 49.57' W. long. to Hanus Point at
56º 51.92' N. lat., 135º 30.50' W. long. to the green day marker in
Dorothy Narrows to Baranof Island at 56º 49.28' N. lat., 135º 22.60'
W. long., the daily possession limit for rockfish is three fish, of which no
more than one may be a yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes
ruberrimus);
(ii) the
waters off Cape Edgecumbe enclosed by a box defined as 56º 55.5' N. lat.
and 56º 57' N. lat., and 135º 54' W. long. and 135º 57' W.
long., are closed to fishing for all species of bottomfish;
(B) in the Ketchikan vicinity: in
all waters of Section 1-E south of the latitude of Bushy Point Light and in the
waters of Section 1-F north of lines from Point Alava to the southernmost tip
of Ham Island, from Cedar Point to Dall Head, and from Dall Head to a point on
the District 1 boundary in Clarence Strait at the latitude of Dall Head, the
bag and possession limit for rockfish is three fish, no more than one of which
may be yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes rubberrimus);
(C) there is an annual limit for sablefish
per household permit and a vessel limit as described in ( 6) of this
section;
(4) a person on
board a vessel from which a longline was used to take bottomfish for personal
use in the Northern Southeast Inside Subdistrict or the Southern Southeast
Inside Subdistrict is subject to the restrictions in
5
AAC 28.180;
(5) bottomfish taken under personal use
regulations may not be used as bait in a commercial fishery;
(6) sablefish may be taken for personal use
only by pot, longline, or hand held line and only as follows:
(A) a personal use fishing permit issued by
the department under
5
AAC 77.015 is required to take sablefish; the
department will issue only one sablefish personal use fishing permit per
household per year;
(B) a permit
holder shall record sablefish harvest information on harvest recording forms
provided by the department; there is an annual limit of 50 sablefish per
household permit;
(C) a permit
holder's longline gear
(i) may not have
attached more than 350 hooks in the aggregate; and
(ii) must be marked as specified in (2) of
this section;
(D) no
more than 200 personal use sablefish may be retained on board a vessel when
four or more sablefish personal use permit holders are present on board that
vessel.
(E) a permit holder's pot
gear
(i) may not exceed two pots per permit
holder or eight pots per vessel when four or more permit holders are
present;
(ii) may not be longlined;
and
(iii) must have, for each pot,
at least two circular escape rings with a minimum inside diameter of three and
three-fourths inches installed on opposing vertical or sloping walls and must
have individual tunnel eye openings with perimeters of 36 inches or
less.
Authority:AS
16.05.251
